The council says it is doing “all it can” to ensure “a sustainable future” for youngsters potentially affected by the changes.

It has stressed that no decision has yet been made on the future of the school.

Elena Ali, from Lepton, said she was initially reluctant to send her 12-year-old daughter to ACS after seeing the school’s Ofsted report.

But six months on her daughter is thriving in a positive school environment with a supportive circle of friends.

“It wasn’t my school of choice,” she revealed. “It happened by accident.

“But my daughter has settled in amazingly. She is thriving and exceeding in every subject.

New signs at Almondbury Community School, Huddersfield (Image: Huddersfield Examiner)

“She went from a little school of 80 to a massive high school and found a lot of friends there. She is settled at ACS. I don’t want her to go anywhere else - and neither does she.”

She joined other mothers in praising “excellent” teaching staff and said the school did not deserve the bad reputation it had acquired in recent years.

She also paid tribute to former headteacher Trevor Bowen, who many parents feel has been made scapegoat for problems at the school.

Mother-of-three Tricia Jennings, who is at the forefront of a local campaign to save the school, said a lot of teachers have pledged to stick with ACS until it closes its doors.

She sharply criticised the council’s decision not to hold a public meeting and to instead focus on personal one-to-one sessions with parents and children as part of a consultation exercise that ends on April 23.

“They kept repeating one key question: hypothetically, if ACS closed, which school would you like your child to go to?

“It was as if they kept asking that question to get the answer that they wanted to hear.

“Many parents think the one-to-ones are a load of rubbish - that the consultation exercise is just a formality.

“We need a public meeting so the kids can have their say. The council are not seeing how it’s affecting the kids. We want them to have a meeting with the kids and to listen to their concerns about why they don’t want to move.”

Ms Ali added: “I know that some parents have pulled their kids out of ACS. Some teachers have already left. But the more children that leave, the more we are playing into the council’s hands.

“The more people flap and take their kids to other schools, the easier the council’s life will be.”

Local councillor Alison Munro (Lib Dem, Almondbury) commented: “These one-to-ones are letting the council gauge views about whether parents want their children to go to ACS knowing it will close in 2020.

Kirklees Councillor, Clr Alison Munro. Almondbury, Liberal Democrat.

“They are only offering them schools outside Almondbury as an alternative because King James’s is full. So they’re offering Netherhall [in Rawthorpe] or Newsome. It’s a nonsense.”

But she added: “It’s really important that parents continue to fill in the consultation form because it puts the council under more pressure.

“They will look less trustworthy if everyone says they want the school to continue. That speaks volumes.

“We need to have full accountability by the council and their officers and that’s not happening.”

A Kirklees Council spokesperson said: “As part of the consultation on the proposals for Almondbury Community School, it was vital to have one-to-one conversations with parents and carers to listen to their concerns and to understand the circumstances of each family, for example where there are siblings, or where families have childcare needs or there may be transport arrangements that the council should be aware of should the proposals be approved.

“We have encouraged parents and carers to respond to the consultation using the questionnaire, or respond via email etc., as is outlined in the consultation document. This has been reinforced during the one-to-one conversations.

“Understandably, parents will have questions that at this stage cannot be answered, because this is a consultation and no decisions have yet been made.

“However, it was felt it was important to ask parents to give consideration to whether they would, at this stage, have a preference should the proposals go ahead.

“This will aid us, should the proposals to go ahead, to implement any changes that cause the minimum of disruption to parents, pupils and carers.

“All responses to the consultation will be collated and included in a report back to Kirklees Council’s Cabinet and members will be asked to make a decision as to whether to progress to the next stage of the statutory process after the non-statutory consultation closes.

“Kirklees Council is doing all it can to work with the school to ensure a sustainable future that provides the best start in life for our young people.”